Australia's food watchdog reassures consumers on the safety of a
genetically modified corn refined for use in a range of food
products after new research sparks rumours.
For the first time in Europe's history, and in the face of strong
opposition, European countries will be able to grow GM maize in
their fields as Brussels waves through a biotech corn into the EU's
catalogue.
Despite tough new rules on GM food labels, food makers will stick
to non-GM alternatives as new evidence from the UK shows British
consumers will continue to refuse to buy foods containing biotech
ingredients.
The world's watchdog for food rules has given the green light to
over 20 new and amended food standards covering animal feeding,
milk products and a newly adopted definition for traceability.
The unofficial ban on GM foodstuffs has ended but sceptical
European ministers yesterday failed to give the green light on a
biotech sweetcorn from Monsanto, reports Lindsey Partos.
Food makers likely to continue to reject GMO ingredients...
Food safety concerns rise in the UK as the Food Standards Agency
launches an investigation into the apparent failure by the meat
hygiene arm of the food watchdog to test some casualty cattle aged
between 24 and 30 months for BSE before...
As the anti-GM feel gains pace in Europe Britain's third largest
retailer Sainsbury has seized the moment launching onto the
supermarket shelves a milk produced from cows 'guaranteed to have
been fed a GM free diet'....
A survey of attitudes to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme suggests
that many companies are not sufficiently prepared. Even though no
firm thinks that the EU ETS will be scrapped, only 51 per cent
think that they will be ready on time.
Accreditation of Genetic ID's testing for detection of genetically
modified materials in raw foods, processed foods, and animal feed
has been renewed by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service
(UKAS).
German chemicals company BASF is to participate in a new project
designed to trace Norwegian farmed salmon throughout the entire
production chain as part of a qualitative move to boost sales
through improving consumer confidence.
The UK's environmental regulator has cautioned food and drink
manufacturers that if they fail to comply with essential
environmental legislation they risk hefty fines. The warning comes
as a website is launched to help small...
Grants have been made available in the US to enable small
businesses to invest in renewable energy systems. Food producers
could be in line to benefit most - the industry accounts for 10 per
cent of electrical load in many areas.
The Agricultural and Food Technology Alliance (AFTA), set up by
energy solutions provider EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute),
is a project designed to help food manufacturers better manage
their energy consumption. It also provides...
With stringent rules on the labelling of genetically modified
ingredients entering into force earlier this week, the European
Commission has laid out the framework for the tough new
regulations.
The safety of chicken eggs has been challenged by a UK
environmental pressure group, just weeks after figures showing the
lowest levels of Salmonella in years were published. The Soil
Association claims that as many as one in eight...
Governments on both sides of the Atlantic need to better understand
how consumers perceive risk if they are to form better food safety
policies. The issue of bioterrorism however is helping to establish
a growing consensus among policy...
Favourable news for the pro-GM camp as a team of British scientists
claims that genetically modified (GM) maize is less damaging to
wildlife than conventional varieties. At the same time, leading UK
organisations call on Tony Blair...
A number of probiotic products available in South Africa do not
live up to the claims on their labels, report researchers in the
February issue of the South African Medical Journal (94:
121-124).
Monsanto will have to wait a little longer to find out if it will
be granted permission by the European Union authorities to import
its genetically modified (GM) maize NK603 into the trading bloc.
European scientists will meet today to decide the fate of a
genetically modified corn developed by US biotech giant Monsanto. A
positive outcome from the committee would end Europe's five year
ban on GM crops, attacked by a host...
Dutch agriculture authorities have substantially reduced the number
of authorised animal feed ingredients available to feed producers.
Feed companies must now operate in accordance with the code of good
manufacturing practice for...
Canada is looking into regulations that would force companies to
use only non-food plants for producing industrial or pharmaceutical
products. The purpose of such a law would be to reduce any risk of
contaminating human food or livestock...
The European Commission today backed a proposal to allow imports of
Bt-11, a genetically modified (GM) maize type. This represents the
first step towards lifting the EU's five-year unofficial ban on new
GM crops and products....
A US delegation, which is in Japan this week to convince the
country to open the gates to US beef imports, may have its plans
scuppered as the Japanese farm ministry says it is very wary of
more BSE cases in the US.
Legislation in the Netherlands has been passed that substantially
reduces the number of ingredients that can be used in the
manufacture of livestock feed. Food processors in Europe will be
looking closely to see whether such legislation...
In a bid to win back slashed beef sales, the FDA's head honcho will
travel to Japan today to discuss recent events linked to the first
case of mad cow disease in the US.
As the United States deals with the fallout from the first case of
mad cow disease to hit the country, an international organisation
warns countries to stay on the alert and buck up controls.
For the seventh consecutive year, farmers around the world
continued to plant genetically modified (GM) crops at a
double-digit pace, with the 2003 total up 15 per cent to 67.7
million hectares, according to a report released this...
A row over the safety of farmed salmon has flared up in the UK amid
concerns over the levels of cancer-causing toxins present in the
farmed variety compared to its wild sister following findings from
a new US study.
DNA evidence suggests - to a high degree of certainty - that the
BSE-positive cow found in Washington State originated from a dairy
farm in Alberta, Canada, according to the USDA. The department also
believes that the safeguards put...
MEPs last week voted to adopt a contentious report calling for
rules to be established at the community level on the coexistence
of genetically modified (GM) crops with ordinary crops. A move that
squares up against the Commission...
If nothing else, the opening decade of the 21st century will go
down in the annals of time as the period the world went to war over
GMOs. When it comes to genetically modified organisms, passions run
deep and the path to reconciling...
The EU is to take a vote next week on seed thresholds. With rules
for growing gene crops and legislation on feed containing GMOs
already in place, the Commission's standing on the subject is to
become clearer.
A suspected mad cow has shocked the Czech State Veterinary
Authority (SVS) by being only 3 years old. Previous cases of the
disease in the state have always dated back to cows born between
the years 1995 and 1997.
The European Union has given its first indication that it may lift
its five year block on GMOs, stating that the ban could be lifted
before the end of the year.
European Commissioner David Byrne welcomed the Agriculture
Council's decision this week on new rules to cut the incidence of
foodborne diseases in the European Union. Salmonella alone costs
the EU an estimated €2.8bn.
The Agricultural Council has made the final adoption of an EU
Regulation controlling the use of additives in animal feed which
specifically targets antibiotics being used as growth promoters.
The Council of Ministers yesterday formally adopted two European
Commission proposals on genetically modified organisms,
establishing a clear EU system to trace and label GMOs in food and
feed products.
Representatives from 169 countries gathered in Rome yesterday for a
week of talks led by the Codex Alimentarius Commission. High on the
agenda, food safety, biotechnology, food irradiation and an
overhaul of the Codex structure.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
said in a statement this week that the discovery of bovine
spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a cow in Canada should not
result in widespread hysteria in Europe and...
The baton has been passed - and not too soon either. The European
Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has, at last, appointed the body of
scientists charged with the responsibility of scientific assessment
of food safety issues in Europe,...
A US survey, sponsored by a leading organic produce supermarket,
has revealed that almost three quarters of Americans are concerned
about the presence of antibiotics in meat production, yet less than
half are aware that the meat they...
The European Court of Justice has this week annulled the
Commission's decision to end the ban on bovine products from
Portugal, following a French-led legal challenge. The ruling is
expected to have a European-wide impact on...
